Dearest B'sdaughter...Nicole was working her magic with so much Christmas feast preparation going on I hardly got to look at the process....there was much muddling...do you know of the muddler?....the wooden tool for mushing and muddling the fruit etc for the cocktails...fun..

I need the Nic now...she could sit beside me and talk cocktails...however she's now with Andy, my husband Siegfried, and his friend of old...walking to Cradle Mt in Tasmania ..that delightful isle at the bottom of the mainland coast of Oz...
this if from Good Taste mag website..there were lots of berries in Nic's...faint time

1. Place the mandarin and sugar in a mortar and pound with a pestle until mandarin is crushed. (Alternatively, place mandarin in a plastic bowl and pound with the end of a rolling pin.)
2. Spoon the mandarin mixture evenly among serving glasses. Top with ice. Pour over the vodka and grapefruit juice. Serve immediately.

Recipe: Sarah Hobbs_________________"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson

It's citrus season here, and I have a variety of mandarins available. This sounds like one of those tasty drink/alcoholic fruit desserts that one might be tempted to consume much too quickly then have trouble rising from a chair!

Our hot and cold running "winter" here in Dallas has turned seasonably cool again, but I look forward to trying my hand at a batch of caprioskas in a few days when, no doubt, the weather will be wam & I'll be running about in shorts and t-shirt like yesterday!

Joined: 08 Oct 2004Posts: 87Location: in the kitchen with a large bar of chocolate

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:47 am Post subject:

you know, i had two gorgeous metal madelaine pans that i used once every couple of years. they went on to someone who really wanted them and they are used for everything from cornbread to shortbread to butter and tart shells... i... (sniff) i... i wish i had kept them now. i didn't think big enough. i didn't think outside of the box... or pan s the case may be. i thought only madelaines.

i do get to visit the pans from time to time. they still remember me and i know they are loved and valued parts of a family.

Okay gang, fess up now! How you doing with your new year's resolutions Mine was to bake cakes from scratch and I've baked 3 so far and I've made a cheesecake (from the fabulous Contessa's Family Cooking ) for the first time. Had no idea how easy they were!!_________________Vivant Linguae Mortuae!!

David- Isn't that amazing!? I remember the first time I made a cheesecake. I was all ready for a whole apprenticeship and the first one was just fine. It seems like something sooooo perfect and delicious should require more skill when the real skill is limiting yourself to a reasonable size slice!

Got lemons yet? Ready to try a bundt cake? This is a wonderful cake recipe that I got from the Pasadena Junior League cookbook. We always have it for Easter.

In a very large bowl cream the butter (1 cup) until light, slowly adding the granulated sugar and continuing to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Blend in one egg at a time.

In another bowl sift together the flour, soda and salt. Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Beat well after each addition. Mix in the rind and the juice (2 tbl. each). Pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured 10-inch tube pan or a 12-cup bundt pan.

Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 65 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place the pan on a rack to cool for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a rack and spread with as much Lemon Icing as the cake will absorb (about 1/3 to 1/2 of the icing). Allow cake to cool completely, then frost with the remaining icing.

To prepare Lemon Icing, in a mixing bowl blend together thoroughly the remaining butter and the confectioners sugar. Mix in the remaining rind and juice, one tablespoon at a time, until the frosting is of spreading consistency. If the entire amount of lemon is used, the icing will be thin and runny. However a very tangy frosting greatly enhances the flavor of the cake. Thin frosting may be chilled a few minutes to make it easier to spread. Or you may want to add a little more confectioners sugar to the icing that remains to be spread on the cooled cake.

This cake is very pretty served on a plate of shiny lemon leaves with fresh raspberries filling the center.

If you're a pumpkin fan (I am!), I can give you a recipe for a crust-less pumpkin cheesecake that we always have for Thanksgiving. Perhaps that would be more seasonal for your climate at this point in the year.

Last edited by Rainey on Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:59 pm; edited 1 time in total

I love pumpkin big time! But I find pumpkin pie pretty boring. So, when I found this recipe in an Orlando newspaper at Thanksgiving I snatched it up and we've had it ever since.

It's from a local bakery that had disappeared by the time I got to Orlando. I can't recall the name, but from the paper's description, it was much beloved and this cake was one of their most popular offerings.

The notes at the end are notes to myself but I left them in in case they're useful to consider.

With an electric mixer, mix all ingredients except the eggs. Mix until smooth, scraping down the sides of bowl a few times.

With the mixer off, add two eggs. Turn mixer on medium speed and blend together with cream cheese mixture. Add the remaining eggs, one at a time with mixer running. Scrape down sides of bowl and continue mixing.

Pour mixture into a buttered and floured 9 inch springform pan.

Bake in a 250 degree oven for 2 1/2 hours. When the center is set, tuck crust back inside the edge of pan and let cool in oven with door open.

Best if served the day after it's baked.

NOTES: I added the orange peel. And next time I'd line the pan bottom with a ground nut crust. Cinnamon glazed nuts & orange zest make a nice garnish.

A half recipe can be baked in a 7" springform pan. Bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours. This half size is great for Thanksgiving when there are other desserts to choose from.

What are your new year's resolutions regarding cooking in the upcoming year???? What new things do u want to try, new techniques, new foods, etc?? Aside from the usual of wanting to eat healthier, that is.

I haven't made a New Year's Resolution since I was a kid. Couldn't be arsed.

However, with all the wonderful e-friends that I've met this year who are into cooking and sharing recipes, I've had a firm hand on a resolution and so far, I'm batting 100%! Yeah, Me.

With well over 510+ cookbooks, what would happen is that I'd literally forget just where that Danish Pea Soup recipe came from. I have so many markers and tags in my cookbooks that that indicator would fail and many times, I'd never refind a recipe I made and adored.

So this year, what I've been doing, is every time I use a cookbook to make a recipe from, I take a blank card to begin with, use it as a book marker, and when I'm done and can evaluate the recipe...if it's worth saving, I immediately write it out. I also include the page number, the book title and the date that I made it.

To date, I've added over 32 recipes to my card file, and it's only mid-February!

Bee- Consider setting up a database (now that you've got a computer and all...). All you have to do is list your favorite recipes with the book and page # so a quick computer search will send you right to the correct place. It would be an index to indexes, in effect.

I've also put my family and most favorite recipes in a computer recipe file but that was a number of system updates ago and I'm not sure how long the ancient program will continue to run on my computer. But a simple database will always update so long as you add program and system updates.

David asked:
Okay gang, fess up now! How you doing with your new year's resolutions?

I'm doing better than I thought I would!

Monkey, I haven't eaten precooked deli chicken since my original resolution (saving you from slaving over a hot stove at my house ) I've baked 2 chickens almost every week. It's as easy to bake 2 as 1 & the second can be used for salad, sandwiches, etc. later.

I don't cook anything that requires more than 10 minutes of continuous attention on the stovetop. The oven is getting a workout, baking more than one food at a time. I'm using the crockpot too, but don't care for the overcooked texture of food that often results from it. The freezer has become a tresure chest instead of a place where food goes to die from freezer burn.

I have rediscovered how much I enjoy making soup because I do it differently now. One day I put everything I need on the table & sit while I chop. Food goes in plastic bags, then I put it all together and cook the following day. I make at least 8 servings at a time, divvy & freeze.

I'm buying more frozen vegetables to save prep time/energy. If I feel inspired, I cook or bake & freeze as "insurance" for a day when I'm not able to cook but don't want to eat unhealthy convenience food. Prep is done sitting whenever possible, and I've bought several small gadgets that help, like an electric can opener & mini-processor. I'm using disposable baking dishes more, too since I don't have a dishwasher.